Saturday, May 5, 2012

Yes, that is the international distress call, but I’m not shouting
it out the requisite three times for that purpose. At least not today. Perhaps tomorrow, after Greece’s parliamentary
elections.

I’m referring to other connotations of the phrase. Do you remember childhood days dancing around
the maypole and crowing the Queen of the May?
You probably do if you’re British, probably not if you were raised in
the U.S. but I think the latter is more for reasons I’ll get into a bit
later.

Did you know that all this May 1st celebrating goes
back to ancient pagan days and that virtually all northern hemisphere cultures
had some sort of “spring rite” festivities?

Why of course you did.

Walpurgis Night

The earliest festivals were linked to the Roman goddess of
flowers (Flora), Germanic celebrations of what is now called Walpurgis Night
(named after the patron saint of those suffering from rabies, it’s also known
as “the witches sabbath” coming precisely 6 months after All Hallows Eve—interesting
combination), and the Celtic Beltane (a springtime festival of optimism).

Here on Mykonos locals take great pride in fashioning circular
wreaths out of grape vines tied off with bunches of wildflowers (aloe, statice,
geraniums, daises, lavender, and the like), angelica, olive, rosemary, wheat,
bay leaf, and for some, whole cloves of garlic.
They’re quite beautiful and for those wreaths proudly hung on front doors
which survive another Mykonian tradition—wreath heisting by neighborhood
children—they’re burned on the day of the Summer Solstice (June 22nd)
as the adventuresome jump over the flames three times making a wish as they do...probably not to burn off their you-know-whats in the process.

May 1st ends the hunker down winter mindset here and
harbingers the coming joyful days of summer.
But I digress…as I did the night of May 1 late into 2, joining both
pagans and non in the welcoming rite of spring to Mykonos.

Most novice bouzouki player on Mykonos

Did you also know that May Day is International Worker’s
Day? If you live virtually anywhere
outside of the U.S. you probably do.
Inside, likely not. The U.S. has
stuck to the first Monday in September as its Labor Day and Americans generally
associate May 1st with a communist or socialist workers holiday,
complete with grandiose military parades in such places as Russia, North Korea,
and Cuba.

London May Day (Dan Kitwood)

Athens May Day (Kostas Tsirinis)

New York May Day (Mary Attaffer)

I’d venture to say most Americans have no idea that
International Worker’s Day is officially celebrated in most countries around
the world not to glorify any foreign ideal or event, but to mark what occurred
in Chicago, Illinois on May 4, 1888.

Permit me to lift the following description of what happened
from Wikipedia’s entry, “The Haymarket Affair.”

Harper's Weekly, May 15, 1886 (Thure de Thulstrup)

“The Haymarket affair (also known as the Haymarket massacre
or Haymarket riot) refers to the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a
labor demonstration on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago.
It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking
for an eight-hour day. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the
public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire
resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians,
and the wounding of scores of others.

“In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that
followed, eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy, although the prosecution conceded
none of the defendants had thrown the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death and
one to a term of 15 years in prison. The death sentences of two of the
defendants were commuted by Illinois governor Richard J. Oglesby to terms of life in prison,
and another committed suicide in jail rather than face the gallows. The other
four were hanged on November 11, 1887. In 1893, Illinois’ new governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the remaining
defendants and criticized the trial.

“The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as
the origin of international May Day observances for workers. The site of the incident was designated a Chicago
Landmark on March 25, 1992, and a public sculpture was dedicated at
the site in 2004. The Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument in nearby Forest Park was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and designated a National Historic Landmark on February 18,
1997.”

No country likes to commemorate its failings. The important thing is to own up to them.

15 comments:

From what coverage there is, there were marches and rallies all over Europe on May Day, with major labor union participation and that of other working people. Many of them protested the unemployment and austerity cuts going on in their countries.

Over here, in New York, tens of thousands, including immigrants, other working people, Occupy Wall Street and so many others had a long rally, with feeder marches and so on.

Saw it on the news and saw video clips of what looked like a tremendous activity, with harmony and peace prevailing among all sectors.

"Beltane ('bright fire') [is] a cross-quarter day of the Celtic year, celebrating the beginning of summer", from All About Thyme (4/30/12) by Susan Wittig Albert, who can prescribe herbal cures for everything, including murder.http://www.mysterypartners.com/

CQD (1904: Marconi) & SOS (1905: Germany; then international) were used by The Titanic.http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/qsl-ham-history-titanic.htm

Seems "Mayday" was voice-distress, air-disaster oriented when created in 1923, but, OMG, how fitting for Berlin Airlift, Hungarian Freedom Fighters, Prague Spring. etc--none of which is "history" to me, but then I'm not 40.

What a mix of celebrations-activities-for May Day. I love the flowers, but that is my soft spot. When I was very young, the elementary schools in NYC celebrated May Day with dancing around a maypole in Central Park, one for each school. We found it a bother, you know kids, but it must have been very pretty. OT, some of my posts are getting lost. Is that par for the course?

Lil, In Pittsburgh we celebrated by dancing around a blast furnace. ONLY KIDDING FOLKS! Frankly, I can't remember celebrating around a maypole as a child, nor as an adult.

As for your technical problem, my first effort at posting this reply landed an error message requiring me rewrite the whole thing. Hopefully one of our technical maestros "on staff" can figure out the glitch.

Well, this brought back memories. Mainly of my sister and I and all our little friends in Lone Elm, Kansas making May baskets. Flowers grew abundantly in Eastern Kansas--Wild roses, peonies, and daisies. We put flowers in the baskets and would hang them on the doorknobs of the elderly(anyone over thirty) and knock loudly and run and hide (not too well) and wait for their expressions of susprise and delight.

At the risk of raising the ire of New Englanders everywhere, Beth, it's breathtakingly beautiful here now, with literally every wildflower in peak bloom. It's also in the 80's, sunny and no breeze. But there is a downside: it's darn hard to stay in and write.

Hmm, Charlotte, interesting cultural distinction you draw: In Mykonos children heist wreaths off doors, while in Kansas they hang them there as surprises. Could an explanation for the difference lie in something as simple as the fact that in Lone Elm, Kansas they still shoot wreath rustlers?

Thank you for this very interesting blog. English is a fascinating web of words - May Day spoken thrice has such a different connotation from just May Day.. Thelma Straw in Manhattan at www.crimewriters.blogspot.com

We have a public holiday in the UK tomorrow for May Day (always held the first Monday of May). It drives the conservatives mad and they have murmured about abolishing it, but the workers like their holiday...